Gianinna Maradona accuses her father’s medical team of manipulating the family in the lead-up to the football legend’s death in 2020.
DIEGO Maradona’s daughter Gianinna testified on Tuesday about what she called the “total manipulation” of her family by the late player’s doctors.
She was speaking at the trial of Maradona’s seven-person medical team, accused of gross negligence over the football legend’s 2020 death.
“The manipulation was total and horrible,” Gianinna told the court in the northern Buenos Aires suburb. She said the medics convinced her and her siblings their father could safely recuperate at his rented home in Tigre.
She stated the doctors presented this as a “serious” option with a well-equipped residence. “I trusted these three people, who only manipulated us and left my son without a grandfather,” she added, referring to neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and nurse Carlos Diaz.
A key trial question is whether convalescing at home instead of a medical facility endangered his life. “They (the medical team) were the ones guiding us, his children, on how to proceed,” Gianinna stressed.
The accused argue the star, who battled addictions, died of natural causes. Testifying for over 90 minutes, Gianinna fought back tears describing the day of his death.
She recounted racing to her father’s bedside to be told by ambulance services there was “nothing they could do”. The defendants face prison terms of eight to 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent.
Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema two weeks after a brain clot operation. His passing plunged Argentina into mourning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tens of thousands defied social distancing rules to bid farewell at the presidential palace. The first trial was annulled last year after a judge participated in a documentary about the case.
This second trial, conducted by a new panel of judges, began last week. It is expected to last at least three months.
